The Kachemak Bay Water Trail will Host an Open House on Wednesday, November 14, 2012 in the City Multipurpose Room from 10 am to Noon and from 1 pm to 3 pm. Drop in and help us locate good stopping sites along the water trail, especially in and near Seldovia.

Heather Rice and Lisa Holzaphel of the National Park Service Rivers, Trails and Conservation Assistance Program will be here for this gathering and Hal Sheherd, Director of the Center for Water Advocacy will be here in the afternoon.

The Tustumena has made an unscheduled stop in Seldovia this morning! After 4 lines broke free in Homer, due to high winds and rough seas, the MV Tustumena has retreated to the safety of our protected Seldovia Bay ferry dock. She arrived this morning around 9am and as it stands right now, she has plans to stay through until tomorrow morning.

I spoke with the City Manager Tim Dillon who stated that the Tusty is on its way to dry dock for the annual maintenance of the vessel. This is just a holding spot until it is safe to get underway again. The ship is down to its skeleton crew, so there is no chance of dining on the vessel while it is in port – that would have been great! Also, for those who have called to ask if they could get a ride back to Homer, that answer is “no” also, as the Tustumena will be going back to the shipyard. So, we say “adieu” to the Tusty until the 21st of April 2013! Next ship to come into our ferry terminal will be the Kennicott!

Shad wanted to an opportunity to thank the city and community for all their support!

It is coming up on a year since Shad accepted the position as Police Chief of Seldovia and he truly wanted to express his appreciation for a great first year! This has been a rewarding year of learning and it has been a huge encouragement to have all the positive back up from friends, family and the entire community! So thank you!

The last time we talked, Shad was heading off to the Alaska State Trooper’s Academy in Sitka, so I wanted to find out how that went! “It was 16 weeks of very intense training, both physically and mentally. It was exhausting! It was very good, I learned a ton! I was shot, tazed, drowned, sprayed, maced, etc. This was a process that left many welts, marks, and bruises – which helps you to appreciate the amount of the pain you are inflicting on another human being if every you need to use force. This experience made me very aware of my surroundings in a way I had never experienced before – it was truly eye-opening. It showcased the impact and importance of this position, and took my perspective of this job to a whole new level of intensity!”

From his experience at the academy, he mentioned that his “high” was graduation, as it was one of the most difficult things he’s ever done! He was the oldest officer in the program – by about 10 years. Definitely, this was one of the greatest challenges in his life thus far, and he is very proud of the accomplishment. The “low” was an injury to his shoulder on just the second Continue reading →

After the recent flooding in so many areas on the Kenai Peninsula, the quality of the water in private wells is of major concern to the borough. The KPB is offering an opportunity to assist the property owners across the bay. (that’s us!) They will be sending over the test bottles so that we may take our well samples, have the samples returned to Homer, and transported to Soldotna within the tight time frame required for accurate testing.

Besides having the transportation handled for you, this is also a great opportunity to manage this timely test at a reduced cost! The homeowner will be responsible for the reduced price of $39 for the water test fee, and thanks to the City of Seldovia for taking care of the shipping costs!!

The Kenai Peninsula Borough is arranging to have water tests kits delivered to the Seldovia City Office on Tuesday, October 23rd – where interested home owners may pick them up sometime Tuesday afternoon after 3pm. If you are interested in getting a sampling bottle – please stop by the City Office early, as there is a limited amount.

The key to an accurate test, will be that the test sample makes it to the Soldotna testing facility within 24 hours from the time the sample is taken from the well. It is essential that you pick up the bottle and take the sample from your well as close to the pick up time as possible. The later the test the better (i.e. Wednesday morning), but you may conceivably test as early as 3 p.m. Tuesday. It’s a 24 hour time frame and the borough plans to have the tests to the lab by 3 p.m. Wednesday.

The bottles will need to be returned to the City Office for delivery by 11:00am Wednesday morning, as they will be flown back to Homer before noon on Wednesday. The Borough has arranged to pick all the samples up at the Homer Airport and deliver them to the lab in Soldotna.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Wells must be purified prior to testing. Click here to download the information required to test your wells.

You can click on the image to the left to view the process, and on the link below to read the full report.

I had a great interview with Tim Dillon, from Dillon and Dillon Construction, who was recently awarded $246,500 (which was the largest grant in the state) from the Alaska Scenic Byways program for Seldovia’s new waterfront pavilion, community signage and repairs to our historic boardwalk!

What an achievement!

Awards also went out to Seward for Iditarod national historic trailhead signs for $129,200, Haines Highway for restrooms and parking improvements $184,000, and a wildlife viewing tower along the Glenn Highway for $154,500

When asking Tim about the beginning of the project, he stated that it started a long time ago, as a concept for a pavilion along the waterfront. Tom and Mary Glover were in on the beginning conceptualization of a structure for both community and tourist use. From there, he had requested that the city develop some kind of committee/forum to address the development of the harbor front project. The mayor appointed folks to the waterfront development committee about 5 years ago, and Tim was selected as chairman. The first step was to determine if it was a good idea for the community, and as a committee, they went through the process of seeking approval from the council, planning and zoning and after many community meetings, they finally received the approval from all the powers that be, for the use of the lot on the waterfront (where the crafters were set up this past summer 2012).

Last year Tim went in search for funding to assist in the creation of this pavilion project – with the understanding that there would be a lot of community effort and in-kind donations from individuals, businesses and the city. He put in an Continue reading →